Miao Chu

Chapter 28 Old things
Please refresh your bookshelf, everyone. I added some extra content to the second half of the previous chapter, so you might have to flip back a few pages to catch up.

Seeing the comments, I checked again and realized that yesterday's update did involve too much detail in the cooking description, making the proportions a bit unbalanced. So I deleted some parts, but it doesn't affect the plot. You don't need to rewatch the first half!
This is my first time writing a food article, so I'm a little unsure about the level of detail. Sometimes the recipes might be too specific. Please let me know if you see them and I'll adjust them accordingly. ^_^
***
The leader first had his men serve tea. Seeing that everyone around him was one of his own, he then replied in a low voice, "Don't even mention it. We've been running around all morning—you know how chaotic the city was during the Lantern Festival a while ago. Over a hundred people went missing, mostly women and children. We've searched until today and haven't found many of them. The higher-ups are furious. Several officials have been replaced in the prefectural government, and now the magistrate is newly appointed. He's pressuring us for a result—where are we going to find a result to show him?"

"Ten or twenty days have passed. The missing person has probably been sold out of the capital by now. There's nothing we can do but search around and catch some gamblers. We can't go back empty-handed, lest we be ostracized by the head constable again!"

He then asked, "What are you doing here at this hour, neither early nor late?"

Every year during the Lantern Festival, many people go missing in the capital. Sun, the village head, naturally knew this. He first sighed along with them, but when he heard the words "crackdown on gambling," he suddenly thought of his second younger brother at home.

He was somewhat uneasy, only thinking about getting closer to the people. After silently counting the heads around him—only a few, not many—he gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't someone fall into the water and drown in Suanzao Lane last time? I saw that only his filial daughter was left, so I said a few words on her behalf. That young lady has a conscience and specially made some food to thank me—brothers, have a taste?"

They were all roughnecks who had been running since before dawn, all hungry, and they didn't stand on ceremony with him. After thanking him and praising "Old Sun for his generosity," they all started reaching into the food box.

Before Sun Lizheng could figure out how to get the food box back without being too stingy, the curtain at the door was lifted, and a dozen or so patrolmen in the same uniform rushed in.

The group looked around and saw their companions approaching. One of the more lively ones, several steps away, asked with a smile, "What are you eating? It smells delicious!"

***
When the rain and snow finally stopped, Sun Lizheng and his group of patrolmen walked out of the shop, and the once heavy food box was now empty.

It's obvious that cracking down on gambling would involve only three or five people; naturally, two teams would be needed as a backup.

—Thirty or so men, even if each only eats two bites, how much good food can they afford to eat?
However, since the food boxes had already been opened, how could Sun Lizheng be stingy? He could only shed tears in his heart while still being attentive and considerate on the surface, urging everyone to eat and saying that it was alright.

Several patrolmen, now quite addicted, came over to inquire where they could buy it.

Just as Sun Lizheng was about to answer, he heard the two people beside him talking in hushed tones.

"Hey, doesn't that guy over there look like the one who ran away from the gambling den by the bridge this morning?"

"It does look a bit like that—the puppy saw us—he turned around, he's going to run!"

As soon as Sun Lizheng looked up, he saw a man not far ahead turning his head and walking back quickly.

He recognized the other person's figure and posture, and his heart tightened immediately.

Without even exchanging glances or speaking, the patrolmen simultaneously gave chase, shouting, "Hey kid up there, you! Don't run! Stop right there!"

A group of people who had just come out from behind the curtain immediately followed, but soon they all came back, spitting angrily, "Kid, you run like a dog, you're pretty fast!"

"If I catch him again, I'll break his legs!"

Sun Lizheng didn't dare to linger and hurriedly made an excuse to leave.

Instead of going home first, he bought some fruit and snacks on the way and went to his uncle and aunt's house, which was half a street away.

As soon as he entered, he called out "Second Brother".

But Sun Er wasn't home; only Sun Lizheng's aunt was there with her two young grandchildren.

"That good-for-nothing hasn't been home since the Lantern Festival. Because they were afraid something might have happened, his wife and father went out separately to look for him yesterday morning. They didn't dare say anything because they knew you were busy and didn't want you to worry. They thought they would talk to him if they still couldn't find him in a couple of days." With a son like that, he's only home a few days a month. The aunt is helpless. Although she's anxious, she's gotten used to it.

Sun Lizheng was suspicious that what he had just seen was Sun Er, and he was afraid that his younger brother had really been arrested.

But no matter what, he couldn't complain to the old man, so he could only say, "What are you saying? You should have told me as soon as possible, and maybe you'll find it soon enough—if it's delayed too long, it will be troublesome if something really happens."

Once he stepped outside, he made arrangements everywhere, searching around, but still couldn't get any information.

Let's leave that matter aside for now.

Meanwhile, after seeing off Sun Lizheng and finishing up most of the household chores, Song Miao noticed that the rain and snow were gradually stopping and it didn't seem like there would be any more bad weather tomorrow, so she carried a basket and went to the market to buy things.

This time, she had gathered all the necessary materials and was about to go home when she saw a large crowd gathered by the gate of Zhuque City, all looking at the notice posted on the notice board.

As she drew closer, she heard someone ahead say, "Why does this person look so familiar? Didn't they put up a sign before? Why are they putting one up again today? What's the meaning behind it?"

Someone else squinted at the woman for a long time before saying, "It's her! She's the woman who went missing in the northern part of the city. The reward has been increased this time. Whoever can help find her will receive a hundred strings of cash."

Upon hearing this number, the crowd immediately erupted in noise, with everyone discussing it animatedly.

Song Miao looked up at the portrait, confirming that she had never seen this person before, and was about to turn and leave when she heard an old woman not far away say, "What do you mean by lost? In my opinion, he must have been taken by a pimp. It's been so long since the Lantern Festival. The yamen searched but couldn't find him. He was probably sold to another place long ago. Don't even mention a hundred strings of cash, even a thousand strings of cash might not be enough to find him."

“Do you remember last year when a relative’s daughter went missing? They searched everywhere, but they still haven’t found her.”

"So many people go missing every year during the Lantern Festival, how many can actually be found?"

"Not necessarily. I heard that the one who went missing this time was an embroiderer."

The speaker's tone was somewhat mysterious: "My cousin's nephew works under Minister Cao. I heard that the one who went missing was making a wedding dress for the Cao family. On that day, he was wearing the wedding gown of the Cao family's daughter—the wedding is next month. Now that he's lost the wedding dress, the embroidery shop is still looking for it themselves. They can't find it yet, but eventually, they'll definitely report it to the master of the house. Officials can find people much more easily than members of the imperial family!"

"Couldn't the embroidery workshop find a few more embroiderers to finish the work?"

"No way, the one that got lost used some kind of technique, something called 'cutting silk,' it's so precise, you can't even get a single hair out of it in ten days or half a month—if you were asked to wear clothes that look like a phoenix from the front, but turn around and the back looks like a monkey's butt—could you stand it?"

Someone with a discerning eye suddenly interjected and asked, "Is it engraved wire?"

The person who spoke first paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, yes! That's the name!"

Upon hearing this, Song Miao immediately stopped, found an empty spot, and carefully examined the notice.

The notice was very detailed, stating that a person surnamed Shen, known as Xingniang, from Suzhou had gone missing from a certain embroidery workshop. It also described her height, what clothes she was wearing when she went missing, her age, appearance, and characteristics. Finally, a portrait was attached, and a reward was marked in red.

Upon seeing the name Shen Xingniang and recalling what everyone had just said about carving silk, Song Miao could no longer walk.

She recalled the old stories from Pingyang Mountain.

(End of this chapter)